Chuck vs Rising from the Ashes
by East Coast Captain
Summary: What happens to a man when he looses everything he loves?
1. Chapter 1

**_Disclaimer: _**I do not own Chuck just a few OC characters.**_  
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**AN: **As always thanks PJ Murphy for making this dribble worth something.

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_**June 2, 2011 - Burbank, California**_

Chuck Bartowski could consider himself somewhat lucky now. His sister had a baby girl in the beginning of the year, a beautiful baby girl named Clara. Things were finally getting brighter in Chuck's life after the painful chapter of Sarah and Shaw. The blonde CIA agent had left him; she had chosen Shaw over him. It was tough on the sensitive nerd since everything he had done was because of her. All of the work he did, the sacrifices he made, he did it because he thought there was something special between Sarah and him. But in the end she left with a two-by-four with the personality of a tree trunk.

However, the old adage about time healing all wounds applied to him as well. It had been a year since Sarah left, and he felt much better these days. Rather than wallow in self-pity like he did after he got fired, Chuck quit being a spy and had the Intersect removed for good. He left his job at the Buy More and used his degree to get a better job at a tech firm, even making enough to get his own place. Despite this almost cleansing of the last three years, he kept in contact with John Casey, who chose to stay in Los Angeles to be near his daughter and to keep an eye on the nerd. Casey considered Chuck one of his closest friends and was a great pillar of strength to the nerd when Sarah left. The veteran soldier never said anything disparaging about Sarah because he felt he had no right to judge her, as he left his pregnant fiancée to raise their daughter alone. However, he did question her leaving an honorable man like Chuck for a piece of crap like Shaw, who wouldn't hesitate to shoot a man with his back turned, something only a coward would do.

Clara had grown a lot; the five month old baby really was the light of Ellie and Devon's life. She had her father's eyes but everyone knew she would look a lot like her mother as she grew older. He stopped across the courtyard from time to time to help with his new niece when he wasn't working or playing videogames with Morgan, whom Chuck took in so he wouldn't be subjected to his mother and Big Mike making enough noise to open their own sound effects studio.

He turned the corner towards the apartment complex in Echo Park after a long day at work and even longer day on the gridlocked freeway. He wasn't looking forward to leftover pizza, but there was little point cooking when Morgan had to work late at the Buy More. He drove down the street, and what was in front of him made his heart skip a beat.

The street was teeming with police vehicles and two ambulances. Even worse, he saw Casey talking to a police officer. He exited his car slowly, stepping gingerly towards the scene. And then he saw three gurneys being wheeled towards the ambulances from what looked like Ellie's and Devon's apartment.

He sprinted towards the scene, his heart beating out of control. Casey intercepted the distraught man, clutching him in his arms. Chuck struggled to break free but couldn't get out of Casey's grip.

"Chuck, no! There's nothing you can do."

"NO! This can't be happening!" Chuck exclaimed as tears rolled down his face.

Casey looked grimly as the bodies were put in the back of an ambulance that would them to the morgue. To a casual observer, it would have been a horrifying site. As Casey was barely holding himself together, he couldn't even imagine how horrible it was for Chuck to see this. And there was no reason, no logic for it, either. According to the officers on scene, all three of the Woodcombs had been riddled with bullets.

It was a damn massacre. And Chuck lost the only person who had been there for him his entire life: his sister, Ellie.

Chuck cried loudly and could barely keep himself on his feet. Casey pulled his friend into a hug, holding onto him for dear life.

* * *

_**June 6, 2014 - ****Honolulu, Hawaii**_

The sun had set over the city skyline as the bright lights that adorned the landscape during the night painted their nightly picture. The city of Honolulu was quiet most nights, save the sounds of a few crickets and animals that were active at night.

John Lawrence was a low-rent, trashy hoodlum who, in his twenty-five years on this Earth, had not accomplished a single thing other than being a violent thug whose sole purpose was to inflict misery on innocent people. Not even three years in prison for kidnapping and beating up his girlfriend deterred him from his life of crime. He spent most of his time hanging around three other equally moronic and violent thugs named Ted, Elliott, and Dorian. Their act of lawlessness for the evening was beating up a scrawny college student just going home for the evening.

"Four on one; that's not very fair."

Out of the shadows came a much disheveled Charles Bartowski wearing a tank top and blue jeans. One would mistake him for Jesus Christ with the long hair and scruffy beard. He held a half-bottle of Irish whiskey in his hand, and from the looks of it, the other half had gone down his throat earlier in the evening.

"Who the fuck are you supposed to be? Jesus Christ?" John said in derision.

Chuck hiccupped. "Nope. Just the one who is going to beat you and your little cohorts senseless, douchebag."

The hoodlums laughed, but Chuck flung the bottle of whiskey with the precision of a sniper. The bottle broke on Dorian's head, who dropped to the ground. The other three stared at shock for a second before lunging at Chuck with switchblades. Chuck moved like the wind, striking Ted with an open-palmed strike to the face, knocking the bastard out. Chuck swiftly dodged Lawrence and caught Elliott by the head, putting him into a precise sleeper hold that rendered him unconscious within a few seconds.

Lawrence looked rightfully terrified. Of course, he was a true coward, only acting brave when all of his friends were behind him. Technically, they still were, but they would no longer be of any use.

"Boo," Chuck deadpanned.

Lawrence ran for his life all the way back to his hideout; no doubt he would have a few nightmares about the bearded man who took him down. The college student slowly got up to see the remaining punks lying on the ground around him. He looked around to see who had saved him but saw no one. He quickly left the scene, never knowing who his guardian angel was that night.

Chuck walked quietly through the city, not wanting to meet or talk to anyone. He moved to Honolulu because of its tranquility. He did the odd job here and there to pay the bills but kept to himself otherwise. He hadn't talked to Casey or Morgan in almost a year. His parents well, he didn't know where they were. His father went to the funeral for Ellie, Devon, and Clara, but he never talked to his son, who left the minute the funeral was over. Chuck left the city and made his way to San Diego. He spent a few months in Connecticut, where he grew up, and he settled here in Hawaii two years ago.

He lived in a loft above an old printing press. It was actually a former safehouse used by his parents before they got married and had children, so he didn't pay any rent or mortgage. He found it when he was searching for his mother; a search which proved fruitless in the end.

He placed the keys on the table near the entrance when he felt that he was not alone in his loft. He pulled out a bat hiding behind the couch.

'Whoever you are, I don't have any money if you leave now I won't put you in the hospital."

"I know you could, Mr. Bartowski, I've been watching you for a while." It was very dark so he could not see the intruder. Chuck turned towards the voice, which came from the shadows.

"You and I need to talk Mr. Bartowski," the man said as he stepped out of the shadows. He was middle-aged with graying hair. Chuck thought he looked more like a college professor than some seedy criminal.

"Who are you?" Chuck demanded.

"My name is Albert Newton, and I'm here to offer you a job."

Chuck chuckled cynically at that. "Is that a fact?"

Newton knew the younger man didn't trust him, but that was no surprise. Given what happened to the young man three years ago, he could certainly understand not trusting anybody.

"I need your particular skills for a mission."

"What kind of mission?"

"One for which you will be well-compensated."

Chuck did not trust this stranger. But then when one had nothing, one had nothing to lose, either.

"I'm listening."

* * *

Cast

Zachary Levi - Chuck Bartowski

Tom Selleck - Albert Newton

Adam Baldwin - John Casey

Tricia Helfer - Alex Forrest


	2. Chapter 2

_**AN: **Sorry this chapter is so short. I'm saving my best for next chapter. To PJ Murphy, thank you for being there and making this worthy._

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_**June 5, 2014 - Honolulu, Hawaii**_

It was early the next morning and Chuck looked out at the people who were going to work. Chuck did not get any sleep last night, although his haggard appearance had been a part of him for a long time. He met the mysterious Albert Newton in a local park. Not that Chuck minded the setting, as it was a nice day to be outside.

"I lost everything, betrayed by someone I called my friend," Albert said, the mere words leaving a bitter taste in his mouth.

"What happened?" Chuck asked intrigued.

"I was framed for the murder of a government official while doing business in the country and imprisoned in a Honduran hellhole for thirteen months. During those months, I devised an escape, and I went over the border into Nicaragua. I returned to the country where I found my wife had died of grief and my daughter…"

He trailed off for a second, unable to continue. He took a deep breath. "I know you fought off four street thugs last night. It was all over the internet about 'Jesus Christ' coming to this young man's rescue," Newton said with a twinkle of humor in his eyes.

"What do you want me to say?" Chuck asked, completely unrepentant about kicking the crap out of a bunch of lowlifes. He hated how some people could be so vile as to take advantage of the innocent.

"Why did you save that young man, Chuck? And then just let those bastards walk away?" Newton asked, even though he knew what Chuck would say.

"I didn't want to kill them. OK, the thought crossed my mind. I mean, how can someone do what they did just for the hell of it?" Chuck seethed. "But they were just a bunch of nasty punks, so I put them in their place."

"That's why you're the man I want on my team, Chuck." Newton stood up and handed Chuck a business card. "Come find me at this address tomorrow night at seven. And get yourself cleaned up first. The man who saved that kid's life deserves to be treated better than the way you treat yourself."

Chuck watched Newton depart and looked at the card and knew what he had to do. Later that day, Chuck found himself staring into the mirror of his bathroom stroking his beard, for a long time he has been in this hole of despair and knew he had to do something to crawl out of it and begin moving on with his life, this might be the first step. He got the scissors and started cutting off the masses of hair.

Chuck was ready to be a new man.

* * *

_**June 6, 2014 - Honolulu, Hawaii**_

The sun had set on the city, and John Casey watched it descend below the horizon. He was never much for watching sunsets or sunrises, but at least in Hawaii he understood the tourists' affinity for it. Standing next to him was Alex Forrest, and the look on her face was considerably different than the last time he saw her five years ago.

She was smiling.

Casey could be counted among those who never thought Alex Forrest would ever leave the Agency, but apparently even she wasn't immune to the charms of the right guy. From what Casey heard, the man was an ex-soccer player turned engineer she met at a D.C. party and they hit it off right away. They were starting a private security company, and Newton gave her an offer of significant startup funds she couldn't turn down. Although she was still a cold, guarded person, she had more sympathy for Chuck than she used to.

Newton chose an old library as their base of operations. Newton looked at the clock on the wall read half past seven in the evening.

"The idiot was never this late," Casey grumbled, referring to his old friend. Thankfully he didn't have to wait any longer. Chuck ascended the stairs complete with a short, slicked-back haircut and no beard at all. He wore a blue Hawaiian shirt and his signature Converse Chuck Taylor's.

Newton's lips formed a small smirk. "Welcome Mr. Bartowski. I know you are already acquainted with Mr. Casey and Ms. Forrest."

Chuck nodded at his old friends, Casey and Alex. Casey eyed Chuck with almost sad eyes. His friend was no longer the naïve and innocent Nerd Herder he met in Burbank seven years ago but a man wary of others and having utter contempt for the wicked. Forrest also eyed her former almost asset. He looked far sexier with his chiseled shoulders and clean shaven appearance. But she didn't think of it any further.

"I recruited each of you for your particular skill set," Newton began. "Mr. Casey is the muscle, Ms. Forrest is the black widow, and Mr. Bartowski is the brains." He activated his computer, and a holographic image came into view of a teenage girl with a bright smile and kind eyes. "The mission is protecting this girl. This is Megan Brady. She's a seventeen year old set to start her senior year in September. She wants to be an attorney like her mother. But what she doesn't know is her biological father is Roku Yozuki."

The hologram changed to show the hard face of a middle-aged Japanese man. "He's the boss of the White Fist, a criminal organization that popped up just a few years ago. Megan's mother approached me a few weeks ago with the news he had been contacting her. According to my intel, Roku is also in league with a Ring agent only known by the alias Kr, who is looking to steal a piece of hardware developed by the Japanese known as the Ares Key. What the Ares Key does I have no idea, but Kr wants it."

"What´s the plan?" asked Chuck.

"Roku operates out of this city so the plan is for you and Mr. Casey to pose as mobsters while Miss Forrest keeps an eye on Megan."

"You flew me across a continent and an ocean for a babysitting gig?" Alex crossed her arms like a pouting child.

"A well-paying babysitting gig," Newton replied without taking any offense to Alex's complaint. "The lease on your office is paid for the next ten years."

"What is Yozuki's deal? What's his M.O.?" Casey grunted, glaring at the holographic screen. He had never heard of this creep before.

"He started out as a low level hood in the streets of Kyoto where he was born. Worked his way up a small criminal syndicate until he killed his boss. He then absorbed other gangs in that city and became the White Fist. They dabble in prostitution, selling drugs to kids Megan´s age, and murder for hire among other things. He executes his victims by plunging a Tantō into the back of their heads."

"Slimy piece of shit," Casey growled.

Newton nodded grimly. "The White Fist is also believed to be involved in a string of gangland killings around the islands."

"When do we start?" Alex asked.

Newton's lips formed a smile. "Tomorrow morning at eight AM sharp."

All three former agents nodded.

**TO BE CONTINUED...**


	3. Chapter 3

**Author´s Note: **Hello loyal readers, I´m back! Wow I cannot believe its been six months already since my last update. Real life got in the way for me and my fabulous Beta PJ Murphy whom I thank for his work btw. Enjoy!**  
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**June 7, 2014 - Honolulu**

Chuck and Casey spotted the two mobsters whose places they would be taking. One was huge behemoth with red hair; the other was a lanky dark haired, olive skinned man. Apart from Casey's hair, they were almost mirror images of the two quasi-spies.

The two men shared a glance and followed the two mobsters into the elevator at a parking garage. A scuffle broke out in the elevator and a minute later, the two men were out cold. Walking out of the elevator, Casey tucked a special pen into his pocket.

"I gave those two knuckleheads enough of this stuff to make them forget the last two days." Casey grunted.

"According to this, we have to meet Roku at a Japanese bar and grill in twenty minutes. He runs it as a front," Chuck said, looking at the itinerary he picked up from the dark haired man's iPhone.

The drive from the garage did not take very long. Chuck and Casey entered the mostly-empty restaurant. Empty that is, apart from four supersized bodyguards, the weight of which would propel any football team into the playoffs instantly. Behind them, their boss, Roku sat in a booth eating an _okonomiyaki_, a type of savory Japanese pancake. He looked up as his saw his 'subordinates' enter. He sliced of a piece of his meal and began chewing on it, nonplussed by the people he was looking at.

Chuck noticed Roku looked at Casey and him like they were nobodies; something he scraped from underneath his shoe. He was so notorious in his native Japan, in fact, the local police had created a task force specifically for combating the White Fist.

"You two come highly recommended. I trust you won't fail me for this upcoming task or else we will have…trouble," he said ominously.

"We won't, we will do what you ask of us," Chuck replied. He studied Roku; Chuck knew the man would follow through on his threats.

"Tonight, we will hit the Japanese consulate. There is something of great value to me there," Roku exclaimed.

Chuck and Casey kept the same looks on their faces, but the concern was already creeping in. If they weren't careful, they could set off an international incident. It seemed this Ares Key was in the consulate in a hilly area of the city. Roku made a living breaking the law, but did he really have the balls to violate international law?

_It certainly looks that way_, Chuck thought.

Night had fallen, it was the best time to strike. Roku had a contact inside the consulate; it was a two floor manor with a few dozen rooms. Getting inside was simple enough. Chuck, Casey and two of Roku's best thugs posed as a repair crew arriving to fix the electrical system that had suddenly 'broken' down. Having the place pitch dark was the perfect cover. According to the White Fist contact, the Ares Key was being kept in a locked room only accessible by an electronic keycard. Fortunately, Chuck's ingenuity would be very helpful. He attached a device to the lock, which searched for the proper code and programmed it on his skeleton keycard. He swiped the skeleton card in the lock and _voila_. The door automatically opened.

"Good work," commended the former soldier and Chuck's partner.

"I aim to please," Chuck responded with a smirk on his face.

The group of four entered the office, which contained a desk, a very comfortable executive chair, a computer, and several dozen books on a pair of shelves, all of which were written in Japanese.

Their goal was situated opposite of the two bookshelves. A vault stood floor-to-ceiling in the wall next to a painting of Itō Hirobumi, the first Prime Minister of Japan. Chuck went to the keypad next to the vault and dusted a special powder onto the keypad. He then shined a UV light on the keypad, revealing the fingerprints on four of the numbers. He tried a combination of the code but it wouldn't budge. In the hallway Casey heard a shout in Japanese. Clearly the ruse was almost up.

He cursed under his breath. "Hurry up, moron, our time is almost up," Four tries later, Chuck punched in the correct code and the door opened, revealing several items. Among them was a metallic rectangular device, which the nerd presumed to be the Ares Key, and a USB flash drive. He grabbed the key and the drive, the latter of which he shoved into a compartment in his shoe.

Chuck had given the Ares Key to Roku while he kept the USB flash drive, delivering it to Newton. The team gathered around the room, Chuck inserted the flash drive into the tabletop computer, unleashing a multitude of data written in Japanese. Everyone looked in confusion while spoke fluent Japanese and of course understood it.

"I can translate it," Chuck said as he looked over the screen.

"What does it say?" Alex Forrest asked. The former CIA agent was curious

"It seems the technology used to create the Ares Key was developed by a scientist named Hiro Ishimura in 1944 for the Japanese Empire. But before he could develop the device, he died in Nagasaki when the U.S. dropped the atomic bomb on the city. The Japanese government found his notes decades later. He had created the Key…only one Key, though…and he was developing it for defensive measures. It could shut down an enemy's military hardware, but…"

Chuck was frozen in place. "Spit it out, Bartowski," an impatient Casey grunted.

"It has an unintended side effect, like that doomsday device in _Escape from L.A_. Except this is really a doomsday device. Activating it would affect electrical systems all over the planet. Technologically, it would send us back to the Dark Ages. Billions of people could die in the ensuing chaos. According to these notes, they deleted the blue prints when they discovered what it could do."

Everyone was silent as the prospects of the Ares Key being used sunk in. Their entire civilization depended on electricity for nearly everything from food production to basic services like heating. The starvation, disease and anarchy that would surely follow was chilling.

"This is disconcerting," Newton said quietly.

"The key was going to be sent to Tokyo to be destroyed on Friday," Chuck finished.

"What's the latest development with Kr?"

"He's supposed to meet with Roku on Friday to exchange the Key to the Ring.

Newton shook his head. "we cannot let the Ring get their hands on the Key. Chuck, we're going to surprise Kr at the meeting."

"Are you sure?" Chuck asked.

"There will be a double-cross of some sort at the exchange. These are not honest men, after all," Newton surmised. "We just have to be ready to take advantage of it."

* * *

Roku examined the Ares Key carefully. Was this hardware worth all of this trouble? What did this pesky spy, only known as Kr, want with this unassuming looking piece of technology? He sensed that this wouldn't end well for him, but he was far too deep to go back. He understood and accepted long ago the only way to leave this job was in a wooden box.

He glanced at the picture on his desk, a photo of Catherine Brady and him when she was a student in Japan. They were young and in love. He was a low level soldier in a crime family when they met, putting himself through school to get an education. From an early age, he knew that knowledge was power. She saw how he executed a rival gangster from afar and she fled. Years later, he would find out she had given birth to their daughter eight months after she ran away.

He dialed a number and waited for a moment until Kr picked up.

"Yeah," answered a grainy, computer-like voice. The Ring agent only known as Kr was using a scrambler to mask his identity.

"I have your device. Where should we meet?" Roku said impatiently.

"Patience, Roku. I will give you a place of my choosing tomorrow. After all, you cannot be too careful about this."

**TO BE CONTINUED...**


	4. Chapter 4

**June 12, 2014 - Honolulu**

Chuck sat on the roof of the building in which he lived, something he did when he needed to think and gather his thoughts. He looked east as the sun rose over the ocean, causing the water to glow brightly. It was a beautiful sight. He hadn't gotten much sleep the previous night, and he drained the last of the coffee he put into a large thermos he had for these exact situations.

He clicked on the iPhone next to him dialing a number putting it to his ear while it rang.

"Hello?" the voice at the other end said rather groggily.

"Hey, Dad. It's me."

"Son, I…how are you?" Stephen was shocked his son called him and knew where he was. The older man still operated as an independent spy, working out of Canada most recently. It was still the middle of the night in Vancouver, but it brought Stephen joy that his son had contacted him after several years.

"I'm good, Dad. I wanted to talk to you," Chuck said quietly.

"Of course son, anytime," the older man said gratefully. It had destroyed him when his daughter and her family had been murdered. After her funeral, he had entered a state of depression that took him months to break. He had blamed himself for not being there for his children and for what Chuck went through. In the family, they used to talk about the 'Bartowski Curse', that all Bartowski men left their families to protect them. But Stephen knew better. There was no such thing. There was no excuses for what he did.

"It was hard after Ellie, Devon and Clara died, but I've accepted now that it wasn't my fault. How could I have known my sister and her family would be murdered," he said as tears starting to well up in the corner of his eyes. He dabbed at them with a napkin.

Stephen exhaled. "I was a shitty father, I left you kids when you needed me the most and I will regret that for the rest of my life. I use to think there really was a Bartowski Curse; my father left me and my mother when I was a young boy to protect us from his job. But I've learned many years later there is no curse, it was cowardice." Stephen's voice cracked as his emotions boiled over. "I left because I was a coward, and I am so sorry I did that to the two of you."

"Dad…I…" Tears fell freely from Chuck's eyes.

"Let's change the topic. Otherwise we'll spend all day beating ourselves up. What are you doing these days?"

"I work for this guy, a good guy. His name is Newton. He's given me a job, and it pays pretty well," he said. It was true, too. Newton gave each of them a sizeable down payment to start. And after this job was done, he planned to give them an even bigger prize.

"Let's meet up after you're done with this job. I know this place here in Vancouver that makes great pancakes. These Canadians know their stuff," he said with a laugh.

"Sure. I'd like that," Chuck smiled, a good genuine smile.

* * *

**9:25 am**

Alex North…formerly Alex Forrest…was a decorated CIA agent, having saved her country many times in the past. She graduated in the top ten of her college class and received a commendation for saving the lives of many of her colleagues from a Fulcrum attack. And yet she was given a babysitting job?

Sure her retainer was significant and she'd be getting three times that much upon successful completion of this job, more than enough to open that security firm with her husband, Ross. But it was still a babysitting job, no matter how cute the little kid was.

She watched the young girl, Megan, talking with her friends, her radiant smile and her kind nature obviously gotten from her mother. Alex had been watching over the last few days. Megan had some of her father's features but Alex could tell she was a spitting image of her mother. Sipping her iced tea, Alex kept watch from afar, making sure Megan didn't know of her presence and yet close enough to react should something suspicious occur.

And for the first time in four days, something did.

Alex spotted the suspicious man with a scar on his left eyebrow not five feet away from the girls and calmly flipping through a magazine. Too calmly, in fact. Alex didn't rise to the top of the CIA without being able to spot the difference between someone reading a magazine and someone pretending to do so.

The group of girls left the food court. Alex threw plastic cup in the trash, following suit.

* * *

**9:30 am**

Newton checked his watch. It was bright and early, and he wouldn't have minded going outside on such a beautiful Friday and enjoy the weather. However, he had more important issues to attend to, like this meeting with the Ring agent Kr. Booting his computer, he connected with his two employees.

"Chuck? Mr. Casey? Do you copy?"

"Yes, Newton. Loud and clear," responded Chuck.

Chuck and Casey sat in a 1973 Dodge GTO watching as Roku and two dozen of his soldiers piled into three large SUV's. It was clear the boss wasn't taking any chances, being the meticulous mobster that he was. He had always stayed one step ahead of the law for so long, which allowed him to maintain his criminal empire so efficiently. Staying three cars behind them, Chuck followed the mobster and his crew to the meeting which the former spy knew would be anything but regular. For ten miles Chuck expertly remained hidden, careful in not letting Roku spot him.

The three SUV's pulled into an old abandoned military installation, which had fallen into disrepair for years after the government shut it down. Recently, it was revived as a recycling center for old cars.

Pulling up under a bridge, the two former spies got out watching from afar as Roku and his men entered the old facility.

"We could be walking into a trap. Are ou prepared?" Chuck asked the former soldier.

Casey's lips formed an amused grin as he pulled out his Desert Eagle complete and pocketed several extra magazines. He would have been offended at the question had he not known of the man's reputation as someone who watched their co-workers.

"Always," he replied calmly.

Roku looked around the abandoned facility. He wasn't taking chances; he was prepared in case this nuisance of a spy decided to double cross him. Truthfully, he was expecting it.

"You've come a little heavy, Roku. Do you not trust me?" asked an amused voice coming from behind a door.

"I don't have time for this. Come out now, Mr. Shaw," Roku replied in annoyance.

The Ring agent revealed himself, buttoning up his jacket and looking at the mob boss with amusement. He then met the derisive stares of his men.

"Roku, it's a pleasure to see you again," he said, his lips forming a fake smile.

"Let's make this quick Shaw. Where is my money?" Roku demanded, wanting ten million dollars for this little job he pulled for the Ring.

Shaw chuckled deviously; the Ring agent had the mob boss right where he wanted him.

"There isn't any money. I decided to get a little insurance policy. Your daughter, Megan."

Roku´s eyes widened and his nostrils flared. He pulled out a Glock and so did his twenty-four associates. Shaw put his hands up with considerable amusement.

"You can kill me if you want, but if I die, a signal from the chip inserted in my chest will be sent to my man on the street following your sweet little daughter, and he will kill her on the spot."

Roku motioned for his men to stand down, begrudgingly keeping his rage in check.

"Good. Now hand over the key," Shaw ordered.

One of Roku's men handed over the Doomsday device to Shaw, who causally inserted into his breast pocket.

"Thank you," Shaw politely said, although the politeness was clearly tinged with contempt for Roku and his organization.

Flashbangs broke through the windows, blinding everybody in the area. The men inside drew their guns, despite being unable to see. Shaw, being the slithering snake that he was, managed to cover his eyes to elude the temporarily blinding lights. He pulled out his iPhone, speed dialing his man's number.

"Connelly, kill the brat! Do you hear me, Connelly?" he raged into his phone.

"He's dead," Alex spat before she hung up on him.

"Son of a bitch!" Shaw growled as he saw his plans coming apart.

He ran across the base when he saw a familiar figure leaning against the exit. The exit was sealed shut, but Shaw didn't even register that as he stared in complete disbelief at the person in front of him.

"Chuck Bartowski?"

Shaw tried to shake his head clear. This HAD to be a joke. That scrawny nerd with the computer in his head was still around? Although scrawny was an outdated term, as Chuck looked much bigger and far more muscular than the last time Shaw saw him. And that huge grin was gone from his face, replaced with a scowl of contempt.

"It's been a long time Shaw. Are you still the same old slimy bastard you were four years ago?" Chuck asked derisively.

Shaw couldn't help but laugh as if someone was playing a joke on him like he was punked. "What makes you think you can take me on?"

Chuck laughed quietly as he shook his head. He remembered Shaw's big ego, but he somehow underestimated just how pretentious this wooden prick was.

"It's a wonder how you became an agent in the first place, Shaw. You aren't very bright, especially since your entire scheme has come apart. Give me the key now and I'll see you are treated fairly."

Shaw's incredulity at seeing Chuck again turned quickly into blind rage as he attacked. But Chuck expected this to happen. Shaw barely drew his gun when Chuck spun and kicked it out of his hands, the metal skittering along the concrete floor. Shaw leaped into the air to land a vertical kick, but Chuck dropped out of the way. He sprung back up to deliver a hook to Shaw's face as he landed. Shaw staggered back, surprised by Chuck's strength, but he was undeterred as he tried to land another shot. Chuck sidestepped him and drove his foot hard into Shaw's knee. Shaw howled in pain as he dropped to the ground, but he was on adrenaline overload with an extra infusion of rage. With a primal scream, he launched himself at Chuck, who didn't anticipate that move. Both of them tumbled through another door, which led them onto a catwalk over several vats of molten steel used to melt the cars.

"What the fuck did she ever see in you anyway?" Shaw growled as he landed punch after punch to Chuck's midsection while they were on the grating, referring to the blonde agent whose lives she both changed. Chuck wrapped his arm around Shaw's head and drove it hard onto the grating, following it up with a hard chop to Shaw's kidney. Shaw screamed once again as he untangled himself from Shaw.

"Sarah? How is she by the way?" Chuck asked matter-of-factly.

"How the fuck should I know? I haven't seen her in years. Up and left, no note, no nothing!"

Shaw went after Chuck again, but a hard jab by Chuck knocked him back. "I guess you couldn't measure up to what we had," Chuck said.

"You son of a bitch," Shaw growled and went after Chuck again. Chuck used Shaw's momentum against him and tripped him, landing a hard chop to the back of his neck in the process. Shaw fell against the railing, and the Ares Key fell out of Shaw's pocket into one of the vats. It melted into nothingness instantaneously.

"Give it up, Shaw. You have nothing now," Chuck said calmly.

Shaw turned to him. "I still have one thing. I'll send you to meet your family!"

Shaw pulled a knife out of his boot and lunged at Chuck, who tried to dive out of the way of the attack. However, Shaw managed to inflict a deep cut on Chuck's arm. Chuck screamed as he fell to the catwalk. Shaw turned around to see Chuck writhing in pain. A deranged smile formed on his lips as he dove at Chuck with the knife, intending to plunge it into his heart. Chuck rolled onto his back and just barely had enough time to bring his feet up to knock Shaw back.

Shaw fell against the railing, and his momentum flipped him over the catwalk. Chuck jumped to his feet in horror as Shaw splashed into one of the vats, and orange plume splashing upward. He screamed in agony as the pool of molten metal enveloped him and melted him away.

"Damn," he gasped.

* * *

**10:25 pm**

Chuck got off the phone with the Prime Minister of Japan, explaining everything that happened. Fortunately, Chuck's wound was quickly attended to by Casey and a medical team. The Prime Minister asked Chuck to come to Japan for a debriefing and to report to his government's ministers over the events of earlier in the day. Roku was nowhere to be found, having fled to parts unknown. Catherine thanked Newton and the team for all their hard work, and the appreciated their augmented bank accounts.

"You did an excellent job," Newton said proudly as he addressed the team. "Lives were saved and a madman was stopped. You should all be proud of yourselves."

"Not well enough, Mr. Newton. The Ring is still out there plotting God knows what," Chuck sighed in frustration.

"Don't worry, Chuck. Their time will come. And if I were a betting man, my money would be on you. Actually, it already was."

Newton had a broad smile for Chuck, but he could only return a weak one as he looked out the window as the moon hanged in the dark sky. Shaw may have been dead, but Chuck felt that another crisis was on the horizon.

* * *

**Montreal, Quebec, Canada - September 12, 2014**

The city came alive at night with the glittering shine of its lights; the ambiance in the air was one of excitement. Chuck and his team had temporarily moved to the city for more assignments…once he had his breakfast with his father. This particular night, Chuck and Alex were searching for a Ring agent in a strip club. The music was blaring and the lights were flashing, causing nothing but a massive headache for him.

"He has to be around here somewhere," Alex said as she looked around, trying to remain nondescript in her cocktail waitress outfit.

"No question about that," Chuck agreed.

A bright blue top flew into his face; Chuck pulled it off in annoyance and looked around. He saw a blonde dancer twirl around the pole, the obvious owner of the blue colored top. Although Chuck didn't see her face, there was something familiar about her. The attitude, the body. Chuck watched in fascination as she spun around the pole, her pert breasts jiggling to entice the crowd. She swung around so she was looking directly at Chuck and froze in mid-pose, still hanging off of the stripper pole. Chuck's eyes widened as well.

"Chuck," she gasped.

Chuck blinked once unable to speak.

"Sarah?"

**THE END**

* * *

**Author's Note:** I'd like to thank all who took the time and reviewed, reviews are important to the author. I admit I didn't think this would become as popular as it did. I also would like to thank PJ Murphy for all his dedication to this, take a bow!

Yep a cliffhanger!


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